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1 Kail Padgitt, State and Local-Option General Sales Tax Rates in U.S. States 1 (2010)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/ffceaxz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: NNNx '4 FOUNDATION August 19, 2010 No. 240 State and Local-Option General Sales Tax Rates in U.S. States By Kail Padgitt Introduction Retail sales taxes are correctly described in textbooks as transparent taxes, that is, citizens are aware of how much they pay and when. Indeed, on any particular purchase, an individual can easily identify the amount and percentage he paid in sales tax; it's right there on the receipt. As a result, where local-option sales taxes are not imposed, even people with no interest in taxation know the general sales tax rate where they live. However, in two-thirds of the country, local- option sales taxes play an important role in government finance, so it is somewhat more difficult for citizens to know what the rates are, and transparency suffers. Thirty-four states allow localities to charge a local sales tax. The rates vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and here we average those in a way that gives an accurate impression of the sales tax in each state (see Table 1). Table 1 State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Ranked by Total Rate As of July 1, 2010 State Local Total Rank Alabama 4.00% 4.03% 8.03% 10 Alaska 0.00% 1.11% 1.11% 46 Arizona 6.60% 2.41% 9.01% 3 Arkansas 6.00% 2.10% 8.10% 9 California (1) 8.25% 0.83% 9.08% 2 Colorado 2.90% 4.07% 6.97% 25 Connecticut 6.00% 0.00% 6.00% 33 Delaware 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 47 Florida 6.00% 0.98% 6.98% 24 Georgia 4.00% 2.95% 6.95% 26 Hawaii 4.00% 0.35% 4.35% 45 Idaho 6.00% 0.03% 6.03% 32 Illinois 6.25% 1.97% 8.22% 8 Indiana 7.000 0.00% 7.00% 19 Kail Padgitt, Ph.D., is Staff Economist at the Tax Foundation.